Glen Tate - 299 Days - The Preparation

Grant went to a military supply store outside of nearby Ft. Lewis. This base had lots of units deploying overseas. In addition to the thousands of infantry troops, Ft. Lewis was also home to the First Special Forces Group and the Second Ranger Battalion. The military stores near Ft. Lewis sold custom gear to troops and military contractors going to a combat zone. Soldiers, especially the special operations guys, often bought their own stuff instead of relying on general issue gear when their lives depended on it. Contractors had no general issue gear, so they always bought their own stuff.

One of those stores near Ft. Lewis sold 5.11 brand “tactical” pants. They were designed for SWAT teams but weren’t over the top “mall ninja” clothes. They looked like regular tan pants with cargo pockets, but each of those pockets were sized perfectly to fit two AR mags. The knees had padding on the inside for comfortable kneeling for long periods of time, such as when pointing a rifle at something. They weren’t any more money than a pair of jeans.

Grant, who no longer viewed gun or military stores like porno stores, walked right in. He tried on a pair of 5.11s. They fit great. They were really rugged and well made. He wore them home. He felt more honest with himself wearing them.

When he walked in, Lisa looked at him and frowned. “What’s with the pants?” she asked. That was kind of shitty of her.

“They’re shooting pants. Is there a problem?” Grant couldn’t just stop there; this kind of thing had been building for some time. “I’m a grown man. I will wear the pants I want to wear.” That was the end of that discussion.

That felt so good that he went out and bought some slip-on work boots. They were rugged and comfortable; perfect for shooting. Some people called them “Romeos” while others called them “Georgia boots.” Grant called them “hillbilly slippers.” He came home with those and practically dared Lisa to say something. She didn’t.

The next weekend, clad in 5.11 pants and hillbilly slippers and feeling like a real man for the first time in quite some time, Grant went to the storage unit. He loaded all the tubs into Lisa’s Tahoe SUV and took them to the cabin. It took four trips. He started at 6:00 a.m. and got done at 9:00 p.m. He was glad he was in such good shape because it was hard work. He noticed that when he worked this hard all day that he needed about four meals and a snack. He craved salt because he was sweating a lot. He took mental note of this. He reminded himself to store more food than would be needed in normal times and to include “bad” things like salted food. At this point, he had a few months of food out at the cabin’s storage shed. It was a rough estimate; it was hard to tell how much food they would eat or if they would have “guests” to feed.

Grant also had several thousand rounds of ammo, all clearly marked and in .50 Army ammo cans, the green rectangular ones with the handle; the kind people run with in war movies. Ammo cans are airtight and can keep ammo fresh for years and years. He got them at the local surplus stores.

Grant was astounded by how much ammo he had collected. He had been buying up ammo — a case here, a few boxes there — before each of the ammo scares that accompanied every election. Before the ammo scares, Capitol City Guns had plenty of cases (1,000 rounds) of 5.56 or .223 for an AR. Grant got a few cases of 7.62 x 39 for his AK and a few hundred rounds of .38 for the revolver.

He had also picked up a little .380 auto pistol, a Ruger LCP. It was tiny and easily fit in the front pocket of his pants. It was just a little larger than his iPhone. The LCP was so easy to carry. He carried it concealed whenever he could, which wasn’t often given that he couldn’t get “caught” with it by Lisa.

Grant had a few hundred rounds of .380 auto for it that he got before it disappeared. As crime went up and ammo scares raged on, many people bought concealable 380s and bought all the ammo they could. It became impossible to find .380 rounds anywhere.

Right as Grant started prepping, a huge sporting goods superstore, Cabela’s, opened in the Olympia area. They had cases (250 rounds) of 12 gauge shells for about $55. Knowing that everyone had a 12 gauge, Grant realized that 12 gauge shells would be in extremely high demand after a crisis. They were cheap then, so Grant eventually got four cases. He purchased lots and lots of buckshot, too; almost a case of it. He’d get five or ten boxes (of five rounds each) every couple of weeks. He would also get bricks (500 rounds) of .22 ammo. Before the ammo scares, a brick of .22 was about $20 — four pennies a round. Much like 12 gauge, everyone had a .22. Grant thought that .22 ammo would become used as currency after a crisis.

Seeing empty — totally empty — gun store shelves during the ammo scares reinforced Grant’s thoughts on how people panic and clean out the stores in the blink of an eye. There was something very unsettling about seeing empty shelves in a gun store. It was more than just that the prices were going way up and he couldn’t shoot on the weekends because he couldn’t get replacement ammunition. More disturbing, by far, was the knowledge that people were buying guns and ammunition in droves.

They must have a reason for doing that. They must be afraid of something. When about ten or twenty million people had the same idea, the inventories that were designed for normal demand for, say, a hunting season dried up almost overnight. People were hoarding ammunition. More than guns, ammunition was even more susceptible to hoarding because it cost less than a gun.

Grant found himself wanting to buy more cases of ammo even at ridiculous prices. Most of the time, he resisted. When a federal official announced one morning that the Administration had the goal of outlawing “assault rifles,” Grant ran out and bought a half case of overpriced .223. Later, he was a little embarrassed by how much he paid, but he thought it was necessary at the time. Grant was investing in “precious metals” that just so happened to be capable of stopping people trying to kill you. Gold coins were great, but they couldn’t do that.

Grant noticed one kind of ammunition was still plentiful during the ammo scares: .40 pistol. This was the caliber almost all police used and it was popular with civilians. They must have mass produced .40 ammo for the cops, because it was usually the only caliber available during the hoarding. Grant decided that .40 would be his semi-auto pistol caliber when it was time to get one.

There were many more guns in 9mm than .40. (They had roughly the same power to stop someone, with the difference between the two only mattering to internet forum debaters.) Since there was such a huge market for it, 9mm ammo was cheaper than .40, but so many people had 9mms, so the ammo flew off the shelves during the ammo scares. This meant that the large market for 9mm made that ammunition harder to find.

Grant figured there was much more .40 available because it was the “cop caliber” and manufacturers knew that cops would be practicing with their guns all year long and using a lot throughout the per year. Therefore, the ammo factories were geared up to constantly churn it out. Besides, law enforcement would order in giant lots; there might be some overruns and those cases would go into the civilian market.

Another lesson from the ammo shortage was that oddball calibers were the hardest to find. That 16 gauge was probably a great gun, but the stores only carried a few boxes of it; however, they had cases of 12 gauge. Grant realized that he should pick a few very popular calibers and stick with them. A gun without ammo is worthless.

Stocking up on ammo was a key prep. Grant remembered the first time he lifted a full case, 1,000 rounds, of ammo onto the counter at Capitol City Guns. He felt weird getting a whole case. Chip made him feel more comfortable by saying, “Just one?” Chip was serious.